Trim assembly

ABSTRACT

COOPERATING CAM-LOCKING SURFACES SUCH AS CANTED TONGUE AND GROOVES ARE FORMED ON TRIM AND FRAME MEMBERS SUCH AS JAMB AND HEADER MEMBERS OF A DOORWAY. THE TONGUE IS SPACED FROM THE FINISH FACE OF THE JAMB A DISTANCE SUFFICIENT SUCH THAT WHEN THE TONGUE IS FITTED INTO THE GROOVE A UNIFORM REVEAL IS QUICKLY AND ACCURATELY ESTABLISHED AND, SIMULTANEOUSLY, WHEN THE TRIM IS FINISHED NAILED IN PLACE BY A NAIL ANGLED IN THE DIRECTION OF TONGUE AND GROOVE CANTING, THE CANTED TONGUE AND GROOVE EFFECT A CAMMING AND LOCKING ACTION OF THE FORWARD EDGES OF TRIM TO THE FRAME MEMBER. CONSULT THE SPECIFICATION FOR OTHER FEATURES AND DETAILS.

March 16, 1971 CASTELLANQ 3,570,202

TRIM ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 9, 1968' INVENIUR ANGELO CASTE LLANO ATTORNEYS United States Patent G 3,570,202 TRIM ASSEMBLY Angelo Castellano, 2710 Walnut St., Tampa, Fla. 33607 Filed Dec. 9, 1968, Ser. No. 782,258 Int. Cl. E06b 1/04 US. Cl. 52-211 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Cooperating cam-locking surfaces such as canted tongue and grooves are formed on trim and frame members such as jamb and header members of a doorway. The tongue is spaced from the finish face of the jamb a distance sufficient such that when the tongue is fitted into the groove a uniform reveal is quickly and accurately established and, simultaneously, when the trim is finished nailed in place by a nail angled in the direction of tongue and groove canting, the canted tongue and groove effect a camming and locking action of the forward edges of trim to the frame member. Consult the specification for other features and details.

This invention relates in general to wooden trim or molding assemblies and more particularly to a self-aligning, interlocking wooden door trim and jamb assembly.

conventionally, in applying the trim to a door jamb the door jamb has to be marked with a pencil or other marker to show a uniform reveal and the trim is then set along this line and nailed in place. Further, nailing the trim usually involves face nailing requiring the setting of the nails and puttying of the holes. Further, a uniform and perfect reveal is not always achieved and, it is frequently necessary to caulk the joints so as to avoid the showing of any separation between the jamb and the trim.

While the prior art does disclose structures somewhat similar to the present structure in the use of tongue and groove connections between moldings for door and window frames (as for example see Faske Pat. 3,245,124 Gregg Pat. 1,926,673, Gelin Pat. 2,305,413 and Parker Pat. 3,239,978), the present invention is an improvement over such prior art units in that there is provided simultaneously with the self-alignment of the trim with respect to the edge of the jamb to provide a uniform reveal a camming and interlocking action which, while assuring a snug and tight fit of the trim to the door jamb, obviates much of the nailing and eliminates all of the face nailing involved in installing the trim. While the invention will be described in terms of a doorway, it will be appreciated that the invention may be used in window openings, cabinetry etc.

In accordance with the invention, a frame member such as a vertical door jamb (and/or hinge strike jambs) and a header member for a doorway, for example, are formed with rearwardly canted tongue eleemuts which extend longitudinally along the side edge of the members. For trim to be applied on both sides of the doorway, of course, the tongue is provided on both sides of the jamb members as well as the header member. A trim or molding member is provided with a cooperating camming surface such as a groove which is canted or angled in the same direction as the angulation of the tongue. The tongue has a camming surface which cooperates with a camming surface on the groove such that when a nail, such as a finishing nail, is driven into a rear edge of the trim, the forward edge of the trim is drawn into snug abutment with the member (jamb or header) by cam action and thus locks same in place. The tongue is spaced a selected distance from the exposed face or surface of ice the jamb as well as the header to provide a uniform and accurate reveal automatically as well as a perfect alignment of the trim with respect to the jamb. It will be appreciated that the groove may be on the jamb and header membersand the tongue on the trim members.

This assembly and method minimizes the time and labor and reduces the amount of nails used in the installation by about half, plus the fact that there is no setting or puttying of nail holes as those used on the outer edge which are toe nailed from the trim to the wall and by doing this the trim will lock tight to the jamb and leave a uniform and perfect reveal, and further, doing away with another step of having to caulk the joint so that it does not show any separation between the jamb and the trim.

The assembly can be furnished unfinished or prefinished, knockdown, prehung doors, Windows, etc. Moreover, a further feature of the invention is that present size stock material is utilized as opposed to some prior art arrangements which require heavier stock size than is presently being used to form the trim and jamb members.

The above and other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a isometric view of a doorway assembly incorporating my invention, and

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 22 of FIG. 1, (similar cross sectional views taken at the header and the other door jamb would be substantially identical).

In FIG. 1, the door opening 10 in wall 17 is framed by a strike jamb unit or member 11, a hinge jamb unit or member and a header unit or member 12 extending between the jamb units. A strike member 13 is applied before or after the jamb units are installed in the opening. Trim units 14, 15 and 16 are applied to the jamb units and the header unit in accordance with the invention.

With reference now to FIG. 2, wall 17 having the doorway opening 10 is constructed in the usual fashion and, as shown in the drawing includes a vertical stud 18 to Which wall panels 19 and 20 have been applied. It will be apparent that the invention may be applied to any other form of wall construction which includes a member such as 18 into which nails may be driven.

Strike jamb member 11 includes a pair of tongue elements 21 and 22, it being understood that one or the other of these tongue elements may be eliminated-if it is not desired to provide similar trim or finish on such doorway sides. It will be noted that these tongue elements are canted or angled away from the face 23 of jamb 11 and, more particularly'that the side edge 24 of tongue 21 is angled rearwardly of face 23 so as to form a camming and locking surface cooperating with the corresponding camming and locking surface 25 on groove 26 in trim member 14. The'edge of the tongue 21 and the side of the groove 26 which are toward face 23 in the disclosed embodiment may be of other shapes but the shape shown is preferred to permit groove edge 28 to fit over tongue corner 29. Tongue 21 is spaced rearwardly of the forward edge 30 of trim member 14 a distance sufficient to provide any desired degree of reveal 31. In fact, if only the feature of eliminating face nailing is desired, reveal 31 may be eliminated.

Groove 26 in trim 14 is fitted over tongue 21 on jamb 11 and then finishing nail 3'5, angled in the direction of canting of the tongue and groove, is driven into the curved rear edge 36 of trim member :14. A very important feature of this invention is that as nail 35 is driven in through wall board panel 19 and into stud 18 the contacting cam-locking surfaces 24 and 25 on tongue 21 and groove 26, respectively, cooperate to draw the forward edge 30 of trim 14 into snug abutment with the side edge 37 of jamb 11. This eliminates the need for any caulking and completely eliminates the need for any face nailing in trim 14 and, further, it eliminates the need for any nailing in trim 14 where the stock of the material is relatively thin and likely to split or fail. 'In this way the reveal 3 1 is automatically established in perfect alignment for each case and, at the same time, because of the continuous locking action between canted tongue and groove, the need for excessive nailing in trim 14 is eliminated and for an average doorway no more than three finishing nails (ends and middle) are necessary for the trim along the jamb members.

It will be appreciated that the structure will be generally identical for header 12 along with its cooperating trim element 15 as well as the hinge jamb and its trim 16.

The jamb and header members may come in a knock down package or fully assembled with the trim members to be applied after installation of the jamb and header members. Jamb 111 may be nailed directly to stud 18 or, preferably, as is conventional, a shim or other spacer member 38 may be provided between the jamb and header members and rough doorway framing members.

In accordance with conventional practice, the trim members 114, 15 and 16 may be mitered at their ends to form mitered corners 40 and 41.

It will be understood that the tongue may be formed on the trim members and the grooves formed in the jamb and header members as shown in dotted line at the right hand side of FIG. 2 and the same precise alignment and cam interlocking action will be provided. In this case however, the cooperating camming surfaces will be on the edges of the tongue and the surface of the groove nearest to the face 39' of the jamb or header as the case may be. Moreover, instead of continuous tongues and grooves the invention contemplates the use of a row of canted dowels projecting from one of the members into canted holes or continuous groove in the other member.

Various modifications and changes contemplated, some of which have been suggested above, may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a wooden frame structure including a plurality of elongated frame members each having a face surface defining a portion of an opening in a wall and a like number of trim members attached one to each of said frame members and overlying a portion of the wall adjacent the opening, the improvement in securement of each said trim member to its associated frame member comprising, a first locking element formed on each said frame member, said first locking element including a first elongated cam surface extending longitudinally of said frame member and directed generally away from and inclined with respect to said face surface, a second locking element formed on said trim member, said second locking element including a second elongated cam surface extending longitudinally of said trim member, said second cam surface being generally parallel to and engaging and cooperating with said first cam surface When said trim members are mounted on said frame members, and a nail driven through an edge of said trim member remote from said second locking element thereon and inclined in the direction of said locking elements thereby camming the opposite edge of said trim member into tightly fitting interlocking abutment with said frame member, said first and second cam surfaces cooperating to prevent separation of said frame members and said trim members.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said first locking element is formed on a side edge surface of said frame members and spaced rearwardly from said face surface and wherein said second locking element is spaced rearwardly of said opposite edge a distance less than the distance said first locking element is spaced from said face 4 surface to thereby position the edge of said trim member from said face surface and provide a uniform reveal when said trim member is installed on said frame member.

3. The invention defined in claim 2, wherein one of said locking elements is constituted by a canted tongue and the other of said locking elements is constituted by a cooperating canted groove, a side surface on said tongue and on said groove defining said cam surfaces.

4. The invention defined in claim 3, wherein said tongue and said groove are continuous for the length of the member on which they are formed.

5. The invention defined in claim 3, wherein said tongue is on said frame members and canted in a direction away from the face of said frame member.

6. The invention defined in claim 5, wherein the edge of said trim member in which said nail is to be driven is rounded whereby a nail approximately driven towards the center of curvature thereof is angled approximately at the canted angle of said cam and locking elements.

7. A self-aligning and locking trim construction for doorways and the like structures which include a pair of parallel vertical jamb members and a horizontal header member, one of said jamb members constituting a hinge jamb member and the other of said jamb members constituting a strike jamb, said header member extending between the upper ends of said jamb members, improvements in attachment and aligning of trim members to said header and jamb members comprising,

a first locking element including a first elongated cam surface formed on said jamb and header members respectively, said first cam surface extending longitudinally of said jamb and header members and being inclined in a direction away from the exposed face surface of said jamb and header members,

said trim members each having a second locking element including a second elongated cam surface formed thereon correspondingly inclined with respect to the angle of said first cam surface said cam surfaces engaging and cooperating with one another to cam the forward end of said trim members tightly and lockingly into abutment with the said jamb and header members when said trim members are mounted on said jamb and header members, and nail means driven through an edge of said trim members remote from said second locking element thereon and inclined in the direction of said locking elements there by camming the opposite edge of said trim members into tightly fitting relation with said jamb and header members, said first and second cam surfaces cooperating to prevent separation of said opposite edges and said jamb and header members, the edge of said trim said exposed face surfaces being spaced therefrom a uniform distance by said cam surfaces to thereby form a reveal, said first and second locking elements being constituted by tongue and groove formations in said members, respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 7/1962 Sweden 52--21l JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner S. D. BURKE, Assistant Examiner 

